We've been together 11 years (FH proposed the day after first date anniversary!) and are finally tying the knot. So many questions! We want to keep it simple. Preliminary guest list is smsll-ish (75-80 guests).
Along the lines of keeping it simple, can we DIY pictures for invitations, or should we hire a photographer?
We are both Catholic and want to have a church wedding. Have not contacted the church yet, so of course we haven't set an official date, but aiming for April or early May of next year. For a Catholic wedding, does it make sense to have a full wedding if the majority of guests are non-Catholic or not practicing? Can we have a ceremony without attendants? Neither of us have friends close enough that we feel we want to ask them. I do have three high school and college age nieces, though.
Speaking of nieces, I'm leaning toward wearing a church-apporopriate bridesmaid's or evening gown, as they are much taller +and younger), and children are not in the cards for us, so it seems to make more sense to have something if I ever have a future occasion to dress up.
Once we set the date, we'll start looking at venues for the reception. Obviously we don't want something too big, which should hopefully keep the cost down somewhat. If we have a Saturday afternoon ceremony with reception following, say an hour later, should we look for a dance floor? Other than a few teenagers, most guests will be 30s and older, so we want a nice atmosphere but don't know if they will be inclined to dance. If we don't have a dance floor, should we still consider hiring a DJ to provide atmospheric music, or create our own playlists and use Bluetooth speakers?
Sorry for the long list of questions, but there's so much to think of!